File a complaint when telemarketers violate the Do Not Call List

It happens. A telemarketer calls you even though you just signed up for Florida's free Do Not Call list.

Don't hang up but instead get as much information to file a complaint with the state, said Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Find out the name of the company hassling you, its telephone number and product as well as the name of the person calling you, Ivey said. Write down the date and time the company is calling you, he added.

You can then file a complaint with the state department by calling 800-435-7352 and asking for a complaint form. Or you can go to www.800helpfla.com to file a complaint online, Ivey said.

"The department actively investigates violations of the Do Not Call statute and can issue fines and/or a cease and desist order," he said.

Companies who don't quit can end up in court, facing up to $10,000 per violation.

However, adding your phone number to the Do Not Call list won’t stop all unsolicited calls, the spokesman said.

"For example, some unsolicited sales calls are exempt from the provisions of the law," he wrote in an e-mail. "Solicitors may make calls, when a prior or existing business relationship exists, when calling in response to an express request of the person called, when the call is made from a newspaper publisher or a real estate agent responding to a yard sign or when the call is related to an existing debt or contract."

Charities, political candidates or political parties asking for donations are also exempt from the Do Not Call list because "they typically are not selling a product or service," Ivey said.

And research or survey companies seeking an opinion or collection agencies trying to locate a debtor or collect on a debt can go people on the Do Not Call registry, he added.